In This Life
by riadox88
Summary: An unidentified enemy posts a threat to eliminate all the SeeD's in the planet but nobody knows who they are. Quistis gets her instructor license back, only to lose it again. Seifer gets pardoned and gets another chance at redemption and finally gives in to his delared gratification.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Author's Note: I do not own these characters. Contains a bit of swearing sorry!

Chapter One: Prologue

"Oh, you cheater! I am going to kick your ass Squall!" exclaimed an enraged blonde boy preparing for a fist fight.

It was a lovely day and the Matron thought that it would be a good idea to take the kids to the beach by the orphanage to play. Two boys were playing cards and this was the day that young Seifer Almasy gets to be beaten by Squall Leonheart. For months, Seifer was the master of cards until this fateful day that Squall learned his strategy and outsmarted him.

The smaller boy could not care less about the blonde's angry fit, remained wordless and walked away. This enraged Seifer even more and he threw a rock and hit Squall's head. This was enough to catch the latter's attention as he turned around to retaliate.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" A young blonde girl with piercing blue eyes exclaimed.

 _"Oh, great, the big sis wanna-be"_ thought Seifer.

"Seify what have you done!? Squall is bleeding!" exclaimed Quistis as she takes out a handkerchief and puts pressure on Squall's bleeding head. "I am telling Matron!" she threatened.

 _"Like that would come as a surprise to her"_ young Seifer thought

"Come on Squall, let's get inside the orphanage and treat it."

"I am fine Quisty" was the only reply she got as he walked off to return to their orphanage.

Quisty shot a threatening look at Seify as if he would be scared to do it again. This did not rattle the boy. He is used to this. He is used to being shouted at. He has grown accustomed to being always on the wrong. Especially from this bossy girl who thinks that she is close to perfection. After that she stormed off. Seify stayed in the beach, lying in the sand, imagining what his punishment would be.

All his life, he was always the naughty child. He was the one who always got punished. He was always wrong. Even when he does the right thing, there is no winning. Because Squall would always be better.

" _Squall the ever so perfect. With his perfect manners and perfect silence. This makes me sick"_ he thought

"Seify, may I have a word with you?" said a motherly voice. Seifer knew he was in trouble but this did not scare him. True to her word, Quisty told Matron about what Seify did.

"Yes Matron I admit to everything Quisty said" he replied straight away to avoid more conversations.

"Seify, can you explain to me why you did it?" Matron Edea asked despite already knowing the reason why the young boy was acting up. She knows that he is doing this for attention and affection. Unfortunately towards someone so dense despite her delicateness, who always paid attention to the other boy.

"Because Squall cheated!"

"Oh my dear boy, always remember to be the bigger person. Whether he won by cheating or not, you always have to be a good sport" she explained. Seifer nodded in submission.

"Matron, why does Quisty always take Squall's side?" Seifer asked.

"I don't know how to answer that Seify. But if you can show her the good Seify that I see in you, maybe she will treat you better" replied the Matron.

"She doesn't care anyway"

She doesn't care.

The following day, Seifer was working on a new hobby. It is called "origami" and he followed patterns to fold papers into different shapes. He took a blue coloured paper and started forming it into a rose. When it was finished, he gave it to Quistis.

"Oh thank you Seify! This is really sweet!" she exclaimed. Seifer felt good being acknowledged and complimented.

"Look Squally, he made me a rose!" Quistis showed Squall

"There is no such thing as a blue rose" he replied

"Oh, well that's true!" Quistis agreed. "But I still think it's sweet." She replied

Little Seifer was embarrassed that he chose that colour but he thought it matched Quistis' eyes. He ran outside the orphanage to prevent himself from strangling Squall for being such a smart-ass. Little did he know, Quisty was following him.

"Pay no attention to him Seify. You were sweet" she said.

"Quisty, I love you!" little Seifer blurted out.

Quistis did not take it seriously and just laughed.

She doesn't care.

She doesn't care

And through these words, young Seifer Almasy managed to break his own heart.


	2. Chapter 2: In This Life

Chapter Two: In This Life

"SEIFER! GET! BACK! THERE! TAKE COVER!" exclaimed a young instructor as she was struggling to find cover. Today was the SeeD licensure test. It was the final examination. This will be the culmination of the years of studying and training that these aspirants have had.

Seifer Almasy. The young student yet again chose to defy orders thinking he could save the day. And no amount of yelling from this young instructor could ever interfere with his focus. He was on a mission. He was supposed to retrieve the enemy flag and rescue the hostages. He held on to his Hyperion tight, as he enters the make shift fortress that holds the people that he needed to save.

"Shut up Trepe! You're distracting me!" he exclaimed

 _"I need to pass my exams"_ was all he kept thinking about. He wanted to become SeeD so bad as this was his dream. This would make his Matron happy. And it meant a lot to him. After he first failed, he became failure after failure as he involved himself in a predicament where he became the sorceress' knight and sparked a war. Balamb Garden gave him another chance and he could not blow it.

He passed through the darkened hallways of the makeshift fortress. Clenching his Hyperion tight and aimed it at invisible enemies. He was alone as he remembered that he left his buddy behind thinking he was too slow to keep up with the mighty Almasy. He reached brass doors, upon seeing that it was not locked, he opened it and hurried inside. He found himself in a grand ball room and on the other end of the room was the flag.

On his way, he stepped into laser beams that released monsters. But this was too easy for Seifer. He just pointed his gunblade at them and within seconds, they were sliced in two. He continued to advance towards the flag.

He found a flag, but no hostages. As he advanced closer to the flag, "FUCK!" he shouted as his foot stepped on to a device that triggered a timer. No less than a blink of an eye, he saw an explosion which knocked him unconscious.

"Seifer! Fuck's sake." The instructor exclaimed as she was watching the footage. She hurriedly got the radio and repeatedly called Seifer's name.

"Seifer, do you copy? Seifer?!" obviously worried, she kept repeating the sentence. Nervous as she got no answer, she grabbed a hold of her weapon, the ever so reliable Save the Queen, and hurried out of the holding cabin for instructors and came to rescue Seifer.

She entered the make-shift fortress. Though the SeeD programmed it, the test was never designed to be altered to make the students experience real-life situations on battle. The programme only stopped if the flag was retrieved. Casualties and injuries, sometimes even death are true to life.

This scared Quistis. Eventhough the defiant student was causing her the most headache, she still felt so concerned about him. She searched through the darkened hallways, occasionally dodging bullets fired towards her as she continued her search for her student.

She continued walking, holding her whip tightly in her hand, anticipating every creature unimaginable to jump on her.

" _Damn it. Where are the night vision goggles when you need them"_ she thought as she remembered that she forgot to grab the goggles as she was hurrying to rescue Seifer. Lost in thought, she forgot her guard and a bullet hit her straight in her right arm.

 _"Fuck!"_ she thought as she grabbed a hold of her arm to stop the bleeding. She detected more bullets going her way and she dodged them. When the storm of bullets died down, she refocused her eyes and tried to find Seifer.

There he was. Lying on the floor, bleeding and unconscious. She carefully walked towards him, checking for every possible planted bomb and avoiding to set things off. As she approached the flag, she pulled it out of the socket and the make believe fortress disappeared and turned into a brightly-lit training room. With a sigh of relief, she laid down and waited for paramedics to come rescue her unconscious student.

" _Fuck. Bright lights!"_ Seifer thought the moment he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was a dark room with a flag. And an explosion. He looked around, saw a worried blonde instructor sitting right next to his bed.

"Are you awake?" Quistis asked

"I guess" he answered.

"Are you in any pain?" she asked again

"No" he replied.

They sat in silence for a moment that seemed like an eternity. Until the male blonde broke the silence

"So I guess I failed the exam" he asked

"…" Silence. The instructor could not seem to find the right words.

"Fuck it. I'm too good for this school anyway" he responded. This set off a trigger as the blonde instructor stood up and spoke.

"Due to your defiant behaviour and arrogance, you failed the exam. You don't realise the consequences of your actions. You act like an animal. You act based on instincts. You do not use your brain" she firmly said.

"Whatever you say instructor" he said defiantly.

This was much more than she could take. She stormed off the room and walked fast away from the hospital wing.

She walked to where her feet could lead her. Surprisingly she went face-to-face with Squall Leonhart. She sought consolation to someone whom she thought she had strong feelings for. She tried to confide in him again. When she first lost her instructor's license, she confided in him and she was told to talk to a wall. She guess she never learned her lesson because she still came to him to tell him that she lost her instructor post again due to lack of leadership capabilities. She bore her heart and all she got was a cold shoulder and a walk out.

 _Let me show you, what I'm made of_

 _Good intentions are not enough_

 _To get me through today and in this life_

Without her knowledge, a certain pair of green eyes were watching her. All this time.

 _"Hyne. Don't tell me she lost her job AGAIN because of me"_ Seifer thought. For once in his life, he could not find the courage to come up to her and ask her. He retreated back to his quarters and laid down in bed.

 _You're in the basement, watching the TV  
I'm in the second floor, watching the ceiling_

 _We sleep under the same big sky at night_

Seifer kept tossing and turning, he could not sleep that night. He wanted to talk to Quistis. He wanted to apologise. But his pride always seemed to have get in the way. He could not handle it. He packed his bags and without saying a word to anyone, he left.

He walked as fast as he could. Away from the garden that served as his home for the most part of his life – or the part where at least he can remember. He had a guardian force that made him forget most of his childhood. He knew no friends or family. He didn't know where he came from. Nor does he know where he is going.

He kept walking, stopped at a liquor store and bought some whiskey. He just wanted to get out of the city. His mind doesn't know where he is going but it's as if his feet knows exactly where to take him.

After minutes that seemed to last forever, he found himself standing in the beach, face-to-face with a familiar tall blonde beauty

"What are you doing here?" they both said in chorus.

 _You can run from me_

 _You can hide from me_

 _But I am right beside you_

 _In this life_

"Damn Trepe are you stalking me?" he asked

"And who told you so?" she replied with another question. "Nevermind, at least you got some good booze" she added and got her hands on the man's whiskey.

"I never thought you were such a booze hound Trepe"

"Just on special occasions"

"What's so special about this one?" he asked. At first it was an innocent question but he found his heart muscles contract almost painfully as he anticipated the answer. He wished it was an answer he wanted to hear.

"I lost my job yesterday. I'm no longer an instructor Seifer. They said I have zero leadership qualities because even my students don't listen to me". She said as she took another gulp straight from the bottle.

This was definitely not the answer that Seifer wanted to hear. He knows that she lost her job because of him. Normally he would brush it off but today he seemed to feel pain quite often. He doesn't understand how Quistis' pain could affect him this much. He didn't remember how he felt this much connected to his previous instructor.

"You lost your job because you are a failure Trepe" he said. He wanted to punch himself after saying it but he was never the apologetic type. His pride was everything and he was not about to let his guard down just because of a distressed failure of an instructor.

"Guess so" she replied as she took another sip of the whiskey before handing it over to the other blonde. She never expected anything encouraging or anything better from this person.

 _Let me tell you, who you really are_

 _You're my comfort, you're not a superstar_

"Look Trepe, if it's any consolation, it's not your loss. You can easily find a job elsewhere. Try the porn industry" he said.

"HA HA HA. You would know, would you? I never thought you had porn thoughts about me Seifer" she replied

"First of all that is repulsive. Second, I'm not a damn Trepie" he replied.

With a few more sips of whiskey, both of them were relaxed, Quistis being tipsy to borderline drunk. Both let loose and turned their usual bickering to their own brand of comedy and entertainment.

Much to Seifer's surprise, he felt at ease with Quistis' laughter. He found it comforting. A feeling close to being at home. He has always known she was beautiful. But happiness suits her better.

 _I can reach up and bring you back to the ground_

 _And give you everything you dream about_

"Why does this not feel weird?" Quistis asked. "You've always been my student but it's as if I feel like I have known you for longer than I remember" she said.

"Trepe, that's called being drunk. We can be complete strangers and be best friends when we are drunk. People do that all the time" he replied. As much as he would like to open up to Quistis, he was not about to let his guard down. He was not about to let her in.

"I guess so. But Seifer I want you to know I don't resent you" she said.

"Why would you? You just finished my entire whiskey without hearing any complaints from me. You should be worshipping me!" he replied

"Well that's the most decent thing you can do for me after I've lost my job again because of you AGAIN" she replied.

 _You can run from me_

 _You can hide from me_

 _But I am right beside you in this life_

"Sorry" he muttered

Her face expressed shock. She never seemed to think that Seifer was the apologetic type.

"If I may ask Seifer, why do you behave the way you do? Why do you always defy rules and seem to think you know better? You could have passed that exam! I believed in you! I was rooting for you!" she exclaimed. Seifer was schocked as well as she didn't expect his monotonic instructor would be able to scream at him like this. She turned from a fun drunk to an emotional wreckage. Her cold blue eyes seemed to emit a powerful reign of fire, her body trembled, probably from all these emotions that she thought she was on top of.

"To be honest, I don't know" he replied. All traces of arrogance gone. His mind was telling him to avoid the subject. But his heart was telling him that he can confide to this young lady. She relaxed. Her squinted and fiery eyes turned soft. She looked at him. Then, silence.

"Quistis, I have been like this for as long as I can remember. I may not always know why I behave like this but one thing is for sure. I am doing this – " he said and then paused

"To piss you off" he said with a smirk.

This was more than Quistis can take. She felt like she was on an emotional rollercoaster. She was vulnerable from losing her job and under the influence of alcohol, and the moment she thought Seifer was a decent person with feelings, he turns 360 and decides to play with her emotions.

SLAP.

"Fuck Hyne Trepe! What did you do that for?!" Seifer asked.

"You never could take me seriously could you? Not as an instructor and not even as a person!" Quistis exclaimed.

"I lost most of my childhood memories but something tells me I've known you for most of my life. And everytime I see you and puberty boy together, something triggers! And all I know in my heart is I have to piss you off" he replied.

Quistis sat dumbfounded. She didn't know what she has done to deserve this from Seifer.

"I don't know what I did to deserve this much hatred Seifer"

 _I'll give you all the things that I never get_

 _Give you all I have and have no regret_

 _Take you to the places I have never been_

"I don't hate you Trepe" he replied

 _"I love you and you don't even notice"_ he finally admitted to himself

"Well then wh—" her question got cut off as she was cut off by him planting his lips on hers.

He held her face on his left hand as his right made its way to her waist to intensify the kiss. She made no signs of protest. Probably from all the shock trying to process all of these.

"I love you and you don't even notice" he finally said out loud as he broke away from the kiss.

 _Forgive you all the things that you can't forget_

 _Take away the pain with my healing hands_

 _Wash away your sins and set your spirit free._

As he let her go, he walked away leaving the dumbfounded former instructor behind.


	3. Chapter 3: The First Cut Is The Deepest

Chapter Three: The First Cut is the Deepest

 _I would have given you all of my heart_

 _But there's someone who's torn it_ apart

 _And he's taken just all that I have_

 _But if you wanna try to love again_

Quistis sat on the beach silently as she was trying to re-play in her mind what happened. In an attempt to understand Seifer Almasy. But her head just went throbbing as she decided to head back to the garden.

 _"Almasy. You are driving me crazy"_ she thought.

It was already half past two in the morning when Quistis got back to her room. Too lazy, drunk and confused to even brush her teeth, Quistis kicked off her boots and crawled to bed.

" _I love you and you don't even notice_ "

Quistis suddenly woke up at the sight of Seifer Almasy's face haunting her dreams.

" _Hyne, even in my subconscious he is still there"_. She thought. She just could not understand how Seifer Almasy can throw her off guard like that. And moreover, she could not understand how she ever was off guard.

Beep. Beep.

It was Quistis' bleep in her room. The headmaster wants to see her. She took a quick shower, got dressed into her SeeD uniform, and reported to the headmaster.

The orphanage gang was complete in the room. All surprised why Quistis, the most punctual of all, was fashionably late for this meeting.

"Oh good morning Quistis have a seat. Now that we all are here, I would like to start this meeting" Headmaster Cid remarked.

"First of all, what is Seifer doing here? He FAILED his SeeD examinations" Zell said

"Oh get over it chicken-wuss" Seifer replied

"I know Zell but let me explain it a bit later" Headmaster Cid said. He then continued

"I have received reports that there is a threat to SeeD. Some rebels are trying to exterminate SeeD from the face of this planet. They are recruiting members and brainwashing people to believe that SeeDs are threat to their independence and are too powerful to just be ordinary individuals" Headmaster Cid said.

"And who are these people?" Squall asked

"Here is the catch, we do not know who their leaders are. They don't have an identity. We could not even catch who their members are since this organization is so private and confidential." He replied

"So then how are we certain that the information we have received is legitimate?" Quistis asked

"We are not certain. That's why this threat is alarming is because we cannot confirm it. Nor we can just dismiss it. That is why I am sending all of you to Trabia" said the headmaster

"Why Trabia?" Seifer asked

"Because it is the perfect place. The terrain is difficult which makes it nearly impossible to penetrate without being detected by their defenses. Also, it's a strategic place to launch an attack because their weather conceals everything on the radar. They can strike with the element of surprise, given that the reports are true" Quistis said

"Well done Quistis" Headmaster complimented. "Which is why we will be giving you different names, identities and background stories. We also will be giving you different houses to live in." he continued

"Why?" Zell asked

"Because dumb-wuss, if we all are staying in one location, they can easily just bomb the shit out of all of us and we are wiped off on the face of this planet" Seifer replied.

Headmaster Cid handed them each file folders with the words CONFIDENTIAL stamped on it on bold and red letters.

"These are your assignments together with your fake identification cards and backgrounds. Squall and Rinoa you will be married and infiltrating the mayor's office. See if there is any suspicious activity that their government is trying to cover up. Zell, you infiltrate the hospital administration. If anyone of you gets injured, someone needs to be concealing your identities and deleting all hospital information that they might be able to gather to track you down. Seifer and Quistis, you infiltrate the underground activities of the criminal groups. You need to join them. Selphie and Irvine will take care of your criminal charges in the police stations and make sure you don't get sent to jail." He explained.

"Wow, divide and conquer" Irvine replied.

"Since we have an unknown enemy, it will save us a lot of time to divide you guys. You will live in separate living quarters. Gentlemen, I have given you the map and keys to where you are living". Headmaster Cid explained. "Any questions?" he asked

"How will we maintain communication then?" Rinoa asked.

"There is a safe house that SeeD used for undercover missions situated in the outskirts of Trabia. Just 2 miles past their border line. The phone lines are secured and wiretap-proof. There are also portals which you can use to get in and out of Balamb but you have to be really trained to use these portals. So far, all of you had attended the training on how to use the portal but only Quistis is certified to use this portal since it was part of her instructor training so I would not suggest you use it often" Headmaster Cid pointed out.

"You still have not explained what the hell Seifer is doing here" Zell pointed out

"Because, he needs to come as himself to infiltrate the criminal activities. If anything, Seifer is a god to these criminals because of the Sorceress wars" the headmaster explained. This was not a compliment at all to Seifer. However, he was an adrenaline junkie, he loved everything that is dangerous and that is why he is all in for this mission.

" _I have a question, out of all the people I can pair up with, why does it have to be Seifer?"_ Quistis asked in her mind. But she was a SeeD. She was not trained to complain.

 _Baby I'll try to love again but I know_

 _The first cut is the deepest, baby I know_

 _The first cut is the deepest_

 _But when it comes to being lucky he's cursed_

 _But when it comes to loving me, he's worst_

"If you don't have any questions, you should be on your way. You have separate train tickets so some of you will have to leave sooner than others. Remember, you must never be seen together except of course with your partners. Zell, Xu already went to trabia today to meet you. You will be working with her in the hospital administration. Also, I will be distributing these radio communication devices. It only has one frequency so you can speak to each other. It has fingerprint identification so if other people are holding it, the words will be incomprehensible so no one else will be able to decipher what you are saying. Now off you go. Good luck and be safe. Meeting adjourned"

"Trepe, here's our tickets. We leave tomorrow at exactly 8:00a.m. If I were you, I would dye my hair or something. That extremely blonde hair of yours will never fit well with the criminals" Seifer said.

"Oh like your hair is not blonde" she replied

"Well, I am Seifer Almasy. God of the criminals" he replied with a smirk.

They leave tomorrow, it means they have time.

At 07:45 a.m Seifer went to Quistis' room and knocked on the door.

"Trepe! Our ride leaves in 15 minutes" he said loudly. He heard Quistis said "come in" and with a little "beep" she unlocked the door.

Seifer stepped inside Quistis' room with much hesitation. This is the first time he is going to enter Quistis' room. "Trepe if you wanted a quickie, all you had to do was ask last night. I would have come sooner – what the?!" he exclaimed upon seeing Quistis.

He was surprised to see his former instructor with brown hair, cut short but left the ends blonde. Ombre style. She also traded her spectacles with a bigger shaped circular one which made her look model-like. Her usual peach outfit changed to all black.

"Hyne Trepe! I said blend with the criminals. Not with the satanic cult!" he exclaimed.

"I've always wanted to try to have darker coloured hair" she replied.

"You know you will always look good whatever you do to yourself" he complimented.

 _I still want you by my side_

 _Just to help me dry the tears that I've cried_

 _And I'm sure gonna give you a try_

 _If you want I'll try to love again_

 _Baby I'll try to love again but I know_

"Seifer, what is this? First you insult me and then you compliment me. At the beach you told me you want to piss me off, and then you tell me you love me and I don't notice. What are you playing at?" Quistis asked, blue icy eyes deadlocked on his fiery green ones.

"Drunk self talking I guess" Seifer said. There was no way in hell he would admit to it.

"Sober thoughts turn into drunken words Seifer" she replied

"Are you insinuating that I even think about you? You are delusional Trepe" he replied.

" _Why won't he say it again?! Seifer just admit to it and put me out of my misery"_ she thought

" _I am not admitting to anything"_ Seifer thought as if their thoughts could understand each other

"Let's just go" Quistis said.

 _The first cut is the deepest, baby I know_

 _The first cut is the deepest_

 _But when it comes to being lucky he's cursed_

 _But when it comes to loving me, he's worst_


	4. Chapter 4: Iris

CHAPTER FOUR: IRIS

Author's Note: I don't own any characters! Thank you for reading my fanfic and thank you to my two followers! I hope you like this chapter. Sorry it took me a little while to update. Enjoy!

 _And I'd give up forever to touch you_

 _'Cause I know that you feel me somehow_

 _"What is the matter with me?"_ Seifer thought as he travelled with Quistis in silence. They were in their way to Trabia and the past conversation kept repeating through the latter's head. She wanted to know. He wanted her to know how he really felt. But something tells him that it was much more complicated than that. She was Balamb's Golden girl. He was a former criminal. There is no way in heaven or hell that they are meant to be together. He will just hurt her – or worse – ruin her.

 _You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be_

 _And I don't want to go home right now_

"Seifer" she said as she broke the silence. "Sorry for trying to force you to answer the question." She then continued.

"What does it matter to you Trepe?" he asked

"I don't think it does matter now. Look, I just want us to start our new mission right. I don't think a fight and silent treatment is a good way to start" Quistis replied.

"I will try not to kill you until we finish this mission if that's what you're worried about" Seifer replied with a smirk.

"Oh not if I kill you first Almasy" Quistis replied with a smile.

 _"She should smile more. It suits her"_ said the male blonde as he stared at the beauty in front of him. He then continued driving and saw an old light house.

"You know I always dream that I was a little girl trapped in a light house. I'm not sure but it was so real that I can swear it was not just a dream but rather a memory" she told him.

"Even in your dreams you are helpless, woman" he replied.

"Actually I really was. I don't know but I always dreamed that I was there with this little boy. I can't remember his name or what he looked like. But we were there talking. Until someone can find us"

"What were you talking about?"

"That we will be best friends forever" she replied.

"That's really sweet Trepe. Have you not got any friends that's why your subconscious is longing for a best friend?" Seifer said. He tried to avoid being snarky when Quistis was pouring out her feelings but that was just him. He cannot avoid being rude to her at times.

"Probably" Quistis sighed. The male blonde had a point she thought. Little did she know, Seifer had the exact same dream.

 _And all I can taste is this moment_

 _And all I can breathe is your life_

 _When sooner or later it's over_

 _I just don't want to miss you tonight_

After a few hours, they arrived in Trabia. The car's GPS was programmed to detect when they have arrived in Trabia and started pointing in directions to their house. Quistis then received an electronic mail with instructions and she read it out loud

 _Quistis and Seifer,_

 _Welcome to Trabia. I am glad you have arrived safe. The GPS is programmed to take you to your house. Upon arrival, you will then find information about Mr. Alexander Cruise, which is believed to have possession of a rare artifact from the sorceress wars. This crystal is one of the portals used by Sorceress Ultimecia to time travel from the future. It is a dangerous object as it is believed that once activated, the master can travel through time and alter the course of history and even awaken sorceresses and it could cause a huge threat to the peace and order of the world today. Right now, Mr. Cruise is trying to find out how to work it. It is your mission to retrieve the crystal and find out how to activate it so you can time travel. Hopefully in this way we can see who is behind the threats to SeeD and stop them. Remember that this crystal is very dangerous since it is in the wrong hands. I trust in your capable hands._

 _Sincerely,_

 _President Quinn of Trabia_

Upon reading the mail, it has self-destruct into a program that no one can read and then eventually deleted itself. Seifer continued on driving.

"So they want us to figure out how this damn crystal is going to work." Seifer repeated

"Yes. Probably they thought that you have had a connection with Ultimecia, that you can magically spark the crystal to work" Quistis said.

Silence followed. Seifer was occupied with the pain of remembering his previous offenses as he was possessed to be the sorceress' knight. What is more painful was he was aware of everything but had no control of his malicious actions. And he remembered that it was Quistis that he wanted to kill the most.

 _And I don't want the world to see me_

 _'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

"Trepe?" he called

"Hmm?" she said

"I remember most part of that war and it was you who I wanted to kill the most" he admitted.

"I know" she responded. "You kept going at me" she said, her lips forming a smile as she remembered the torture and the attacks.

"I had no control. And damn girl you were resilient. You kept going" he responded. "What I could not understand is why you were not attacking me" he continued.

"I could never attack you Almasy" she replied.

"Then what were you doing in there then?" he responded

"I was trying to get inside your head and make you snap out of your possession" she responded.

 _When everything's made to be broken_

 _I just want you to know who I am_

"What?" he asked

"I figured if I got you into our side, there's more people to fight off Ultimecia with numbers". She said.

"And how did you think you can get inside my head?" he asked

"I don't know but apparently, I can get people to do what I want them to do if I focus much on them. Why did you think you kept attacking me and wanting to kill me the most? It was because I was making you focus on me. So Squall and the others can battle Ultimecia without being distracted by you" she replied. "You are the best fighter I've trained Seifer. And I don't want you to attack Squall which will reduce our chances of defeating Ultimecia" she continued.

"You crazy woman! What if I really did kill you?! He exclaimed.

"You won't" she replied.

"What makes you so confident?!"

"I don't know" she replied

"You will do everything to protect Leonhart?" he asked

"Probably" she answered

 _And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming_

 _Or the moment of truth in your lies_

 _When everything feels like the movies_

 _Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive_

After a long drive, they pull over a house in a quiet town in Trabia.

"Home sweet home" Seifer said as he pulled over

Quistis opened the house. It was modest with very minimal furniture. They walked inside to check out the house. Seifer went straight to look for the bedroom to settle his belongings. As he went further in the house.

"Damn" he thought.

"What?" Quistis asked not far behind.

"We only have one bedroom Trepe" he responded.

"So?" Quistis asked.

Seifer was surprised as this situation did not bother the conservative ice queen.

"Are you serious?!" he asked

"Well, if we are going to pretend to be a couple it might as well be realistic. Just as long as you don't snore in your sleep, we won't have a problem" Quistis said.

"So if I try to rape you in your sleep, you won't have a problem as long as I don't snore next to you?" Seifer asked with a laugh

"You are so unbelieveable" she replied, her elbow to Seifer's chest.

 _And I don't want the world to see me_

 _'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

 _When everything's made to be broken_

 _I just want you to know who I am._

The fake couple settled into their new house. As Quistis studied the ice crystal, Seifer could not help but look at her as she was focused on what she was doing.

"Hey Trepe"

"What?"

"You look hot while doing that" he said with a smirk.

"Focus on the task, Almasy" she said

"Yes ma'am!" he mocked.

"You need to reach out to Cruise. Tell him we are willing to join him and work to get the crystal to function" she commanded.

Seifer done as he is told and contacted Cruise.

"Done. He is willing to meet with us at 20:00" Seifer said.

"Perfect" Quistis replied as she tried to do more research about the ice crystal.

They went to town to grab some dinner. After that they went to the meeting place.

"Well, well, if it isn't the famous Seifer Almasy" a voice said. Both of them searched where the voice was coming from. Expecting that it would be from Alexander Cruise. But instead, they found a middle-aged man, as tall as Quistis, with spectacles and a balding head.

"Yes. And who the hell are you?" he asked

"I'm Harry. I work for Mr. Cruise. He sends his apologies as he cannot personally meet you. But he tells me that you have a business proposal to him" Harry said with a smile.

"Yes. We can help him figure out how to work the ice crystal" he replied.

"We?" Harry asked

"Yes. This is Qu—" he started and cut himself in mid-sentence as he remembered that he could not introduce the lady as Quistis Trepe.

"I am Quentin Trapp. I worked with Almasy in the Galbadian army some time ago" she continued.

"Quentin? Quite a masculine name for such a beautiful female" Harry responded. "Unfortunately, no matter how beautiful you are, you still need to go through the initiation" he finished. Right after he finished his sentence, a group of tall, buff gentlemen circled Quistis and Seifer.

"Follow us miss" one of the gangsters told Quistis.

"She's not going anywhere without me" Seifer said.

"You are going somewhere else Mr. Almasy. You are coming with me" Harry said

"I'll be fine Seifer" she said and followed the other gang leader.

Seifer was lead to a room and on it he found a king-size bed, with champagne and girls.

"What is this?" he asked

"This is your initiation Mr. Almasy."

"What do you want me to fuck all these girls?"

"No, you just need to choose one. We usually let the pledges to choose between two methods of initiation. But Mr. Cruise specifically ordered for you to have this initiation." Harry explained.

"And if I don't want to?" he asked

"Then you don't pledge loyalty to the gang" he responded. "And we will have to kill you and your friend"

Seifer swallowed a lump in his throat. Was Quistis going to be put through this as well? Whoever will do her is one lucky bastard – he thought.

She was lead into a dark room, with only one light bulb illuminating the entire place.

"Do you want to know what initiation is miss?" he asked

"I know why I need to be initiated. So let's get it over with" she replied.

"You are given two choices. Pleasure or pain. So which is which?" he asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Quistis asked

"Pleasure is you will have to sleep with one, or two men. Pain is well, pain" he explained.

"Pain" she chose without thinking twice.

"Shame. I would love to do you" he replied. Then, without warning, Quistis felt a blunt force in her abdomen. He had punched her. Two more men with nunchakus approached and started beating Quistis. It took every ounce of strength in her body to resist retaliating. She knew if she fought them, not only will she not get her hands on the crystal, her cover will be blown.

Quistis felt something hot run from her forehead to her cheek. It was blood. She was bleeding from her head where the nunchaku hit her. But she didn't move. For a woman, Quistis had high tolerance for pain. She closed her eyes and imagined she was somewhere else, like a beach. On her swimsuit. Feeling the sand beneath her feet. For moments that seemed to last forever, Quistis was getting beaten up. She felt her body feel more and more painful as time passed by. She thought she's going to pass out anytime soon if this was not cut immediately.

"That's enough" a voice said. When Quistis opened her eyes, she saw Harry. He approached her with a handkerchief and started to put pressure on Quistis' forehead.

"Dear girl, why did you choose pain?" Harry said. Quistis was too sore to even respond.

"Take her upstairs now" Harry ordered. One member tried to scoop Quistis in his arms when she firmly said "I can walk".

Limping, she kept her composure and tried not to think about her painful body as she went up the stairs with the men that beat her up. They then reached a brightly-lit room, with a fireplace and red paint. There was a reception area where guests could sit. She found Seifer sitting in one of the sofas.

Seifer was sitting nervously as he waited for Quistis to come back. Instead of feeling pleasure with his initiation, he felt it was more of a torture. The woman he wanted to do it with, is in another room probably doing it with another stranger. He tried so hard to imagine the girl to be Quistis but he couldn't. He remembered the girl saying " _I don't want to do this either. So if you're not going to tell them that nothing happened, I'll keep quiet too"_ she said and he agreed. With what seemed like forever, the door opened. And there was Quistis. Bleeding.

"What the fuck did you do to her?!" He exclaimed as he stood up and hurried towards her.

"There are two kinds of initiation in this gang. Pleasure and pain. Pleasure is, well, what happened to you. And pain is what she chose for her initiation". Harry explained.

"Why didn't I get to choose then?" He asked

"Because you are Seifer Almasy. Mr. Cruise specifically said that you are not to be harmed." Harry replied.

"And she gets harmed?!"

"She chose it"

"I'm okay Seifer" she said. Still bleeding.

"Good news is, you both have passed your initiation and Mr. Cruise will meet you the day after tomorrow. Go home, have some rest. Quentin, please recover." Harry said.

Seifer was speechless. He knew Quistis was tough but he just could not bear the thought of her being harmed.

Seifer scooped Quistis to his arms to get them the hell out of there.

"I can walk!" She said

"Oh shut up! I'm taking you"

"Put me down!"

Seifer did not listen as he strided towards their car. He settled Quistis in the passenger seat and drove as fast as he can and when they got far away, he pulled over.

"You idiot. You could have just chosen pleasure" he said as he pulled out an elixir. Quistis did not respond.

"Drink this Trepe" he said.

Still no answer.

He looked at Quistis who had her eyes closed. He gave her a little nudge and she still would not respond.

"Damn" he said panicking as he unbuckled his seat belt and went outside the car. He opened Quistis' door. He drank the elixir, took Quistis in his arms cradling her and sealed his lips on hers as he passed down the fluid to Quistis' mouth.

 _"This is not how I pictured our first kiss would be but what the hell, you could die you idiot"_ Seifer said as he finished passing the elixir from his mouth to Quistis'. As he was done, he whispered. "Heal" as he cast a spell on Quistis.


End file.
